The United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain have severed diplomatic relations and closed their airspace to Qatari flights, forcing the cancellation of 52 routes and adding hours of flying time to others, according to Qatar Airways' chief executive Akbar Al Baker.

The airline has become a global player in aviation by aggressively opening long and ultra long routes with a new fleet of airliners. It also offers fliers extravagant lounges and state-of-the-art business seating.

Qatar Airways serves worldwide routes with a fleet of 174 planes, according to its website. The fleet includes a mix of Boeing and Airbus planes, including the superjumbo A380, the world's largest airliner.

The carrier's fast growing fleet is contributing heavily to the economies in Europe and the U.S. It is the largest customer for the Airbus A350 and one of the biggest buyers of U.S.-made Boeing 787 Dreamliners.

Qatar Airways has gained attention for its first class facilities. The A380 flights include 26-inch entertainment screens, seats nearly 2-feet wide and privacy partitions. It has just rolled out a new business class seat called the Q Suite designed for privacy or in-flight business meetings.

'Best Airline in North America'

There were dozens of other Skytrax awards announced Tuesday, including one for Air Canada, which took the award for "Best Airline in North America." Ben Smith, Air Canada president of passenger airlines, said the honor "reinforces and validates what we've been working for for so long."

Smith said he believed Air Canada's large route network may have contributed to the victory. "Our network is strong enough to cover 200 destinations around the world," Smith said. He added that it also helps to have hubs relatively close to the U.S.

"The amount of customers we fly internationally is more than airlines in the U.S.," Smith said. "That, I think, gives us an edge."